Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
by TheYoungTimpani
Summary: Post-Judgment Day. How the team deals with the loss of one of their own. Gibbs/Jenny, Tony/Ziva and McGee/Abby friendship. Set to the song "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" by The Killers.


**Disclaimer:** Don't own it. Haven't owned it. Never will own it.

**Author's Note:** Major spoilers for Judgment Day. Basically, this story is the team coping with the loss of one of their own. Gibbs handles it on his own, Tony and Ziva lean on each other, and Abby and McGee plan a rebellion. I know it doesn't end like one, but this is a oneshot.

* * *

_We took a walk that night, but it wasn't the same_

_We had a fight on the promenade out in the rain_

Gibbs poured himself another glass, but didn't drink it. Lost in thought, he swirled the liquid in the glass. The liquor swirled and churned like his emotions and famous gut.

He was remembering happy thoughts of Jenny and himself, but one thought just wouldn't fade.

One night in Paris, they had just gotten through with a very strenuous mission. They were jaded and frayed. To clear their heads, they had taken a walk. Even in the heat of the summer, the walk was cold, neither one had the patience for a relationship at the moment.

They had argued. Gibbs doesn't even remember why. It was just some petty squabble, but they had both over reacted and she had ran away from him. Left him standing on a bridge with the rain beating down on his back.

_She said she loved me, but she had somewhere to go_

_She couldn't scream while I heard her close_

_I swore I'd never let her go_

He chased after her and held her, she cried into his shoulder. She said that she loved him, but they couldn't stay like this. She struggled against his embrace, but eventually relaxed. He promised her that there was nothing she could do to make him stop loving her.

He told her that he'd always be there.

Back in the present, Leroy Jethro Gibbs tipped his glass in her memory, and said, "I let you down, Jen."

_Tell me what you want to know_

_Oh come on, oh come on, oh come on_

Across town, Tony was dealing with the death of the director in the same fashion as his boss.

He poured himself another glass and, unlike his boss, downed it in one gulp.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

He heard knocking, but chose to ignore it. The knocking became louder and more frantic.

"Tony?!" someone called, but he was either too drunk or too apathetic to care, or maybe both.

"TONY!" the person yelled, sounding distressed, he continued to ignore the knocker.

He heard some clicking sounds then he heard his door open and slam shut. "Tony?" the person who had just walked in asked, timidly.

He turned around, wobbled a little, and faced Ziva, who had picked his lock. "What do you want?" he slurred.

"You need to talk to someone, Tony. You cannot handle this situation by drinking yourself into a stupor," she said, picking up the bottle and placing it back in the cabinet.

"You are the _last_ person that should be giving anyone advice on how to handle grief, Zee-vah," he said, angrily.

"Need I remind you who is sober and who is not?" she said warningly as she sat down on the table, facing him.

"What do you want, Ziva?" he groaned.

"For you to talk...and to talk to you," she sighed.

_There ain't no motive for this crime_

_Jenny was a friend of mine_

_So come on, oh come on, oh come on_

"Why would someone do this, Ziva?" he asked, tears coming to his eyes.

"Innocent people die, too, Tony. You know that as well as I do. Why did Kate have to die? Why did Tali have to die?" the last point brought tears to Ziva's eyes, too.

"I...can't lose anyone else, Ziva. I've lost too much already. First, Kate; then, Paula; now, Jenny? I...I don't know how much more I can take..." he sobbed.

She began to cry, too, "I have lost my fair share of loved ones as well Tony. My sister, my half-brother, Roy...and I was close to Jenny as well, we worked a mission together. If it wasn't for Jenny, I never would have met you."

He took her hand, and she collapsed into his arms, crying. He rested his head on her shoulder and let his tears flow freely.

_I know my rights, I've been here all day and it's time_

_For me to go, so let me know if it's alright_

"So, this really happened? He's really going to split us up?" she sobbed into his shirt.

"That's the way it looks," he took in a deep breath.

"He can't just do that. Something's wrong," she stood up, "If my position at NCIS was up, Mossad would have contacted me. He's bluffing."

"But what can we do about it, Ziva?" he said, stumbling over to take her hand.

She faced him and looked him square in the eyes, "We can fight it, Tony. We can refuse to leave."

"I like the way you think, Officer David," he said, pulling her back into an embrace.

_I just can't take this, I swear I told you the truth_

_She couldn't scream while I held her close_

"Tony," she said softly, looking up, "I know how you have convinced yourself that this is your fault. I just want you to know that I wasn't just denying that for your sake. It really isn't your fault. Whoever set Jenny up is who's at fault and they will be brought to justice. Gibbs will see to that, even if we can't."

"Thanks for the kind words, Zee, but I know that if I would have listened to you Jenny might not be dead."

"Yes, that is a possibility, but another one is that we could have all died. How would everyone have dealt with that, Tony? You think that mourning one close co-worker is hard, try mourning three. I know what that is like, it's torture. I have dealt with it...more than once," she said, sounding aggravated.

"I know...I know...I'm sorry, Ziva...I just can't get over the fact that I could have stopped it. I could have saved her.

Ziva tensed up in his embrace, but couldn't bring herself to yell at the broken man anymore. She knew that neither of them were on their best game.

_I swore I'd never let her go_

"Ziva?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"What do you think would have happened if Gibbs would have been there?"

"Instead of Jenny?"

"Instead of us."

"Jenny would be alive...but Gibbs would not..."

"What do you think happened between them?"

"I don't know, Tony."

"Why would he let her go? She was infatuated with him...and he loved her, too."

"I don't know, Tony," she said, softly, sensing that the conversation was not just about Jenny and Gibbs anymore.

He took in a deep breath and held her as tightly as he could, "I'll never let you go," he whispered into her hair.

_Tell me what you want to know_

_Oh come on, oh come on, oh come on_

Abby sat on the floor and hugged Jethro close, crying into the dog's thick fur. "Why did she have to die, Timmy? Why her? Why now? She can't die. She's the second most indestructible woman on earth!"

"Who's the first?" McGee asked, setting next to Abby on his floor and handing her a mug of hot chocolate.

"Ziva, duh," Abby smiled, taking a drink of the cocoa.

McGee smirked, "See, there's that smile. Come on, Abby, Jenny wouldn't have wanted you to be this depressed. She liked Happy-Abby, remember?"

"Don't say words like 'remember' or 'wouldn't have wanted', it makes her sound-"

"Dead?" McGee asked, raising his eyebrows, "She is dead, Abby. Acting like she isn't won't bring her back. If you keep living life hoping that Jenny and Kate are going to walk off the elevators at NCIS tomorrow morning, you're just going to have a horrible life. You'll never see the good in the bad. Look at what happened when Kate died, we got Ziva...That wasn't so great at first, but now she's like your best friend and look at how happy she's made Tony."

"Are they a couple?" Abby said, suddenly snapped from her gloom.

"...Not that I know of. But you can't deny that they really make each other happier...but anyways, Abby, my point is, every storm cloud has a silver lining. You just gotta look for it."

"They really should get together."

"Abby! Have you listened to a word I've said?!"

"Of course I have, Timmy, I've got to look for the silver lining...Is Vance really splitting up the team?"

McGee took in a deep breath and nodded, "He's sent me to computer crimes, Tony's an agent afloat on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, Gibbs has a new team, and Ziva's going back to Israel."

_And then you whisper in my ear_

_I know what you're doing here_

_So come on, oh come on, oh come on_

"He can't do that, Timmy!" she shouted, jumping up. Jethro jumped to his feet, cautious about Abby's actions.

"Abby, he's the new director of NCIS, he can do whatever he pleases," McGee said, standing up and putting a hand on Abby's shoulder.

"He can't just break up our family like that!"

"Family?"

"Yeah, Gibbs is the daddy, Ducky's the grandpa, Palmer's the annoying cousin, Tony's the big brother, I'm the middle child; the only girl and daddy's favorite; you're the nerdy little brother-"

"What about Ziva?"

"Eww! Timmy, she can't be a biological member of the family if she and Tony get together! That's incest!"

"Need I remind you, big sis, that we dated, too?"

"You have to put your behind in the past, Timmy-On."

McGee looked puzzled, but Abby didn't notice and continued, "Jenny was the mom. Just 'cause Mommy's dead doesn't mean that the big bad wolf can step in and break up the happy family!"

_There ain't no motive for this crime_

_Jenny was a friend of mine_

_Oh come on, oh come on, oh come on_

"What are you planning on doing about it, Abby?"

"Jenny wants us to fight."

"_Wants?"_

"Yeah, she does. I can feel it...in my gut."

"How?"

"Don't do as he says. When you go in to work tomorrow, go to your desk. We'll call Tony and Ziva. You guys are the best team NCIS has, he wouldn't fire all of you. SecNav would have a cow!"

"...You know Abby, that just might work," McGee nodded in agreement and pulled Abby into a brotherly hug.

She stepped out of his embrace and looked down at the German Shepherd and asked, "Whadda ya say, boy? Ready to stick it to the man?"

Jethro barked in agreement.

* * *

**A.N.:** See what I mean about the ending?

This is the first in a series of song-fics I'm writing all about Judgment Day. The others will be called: _Shrink the World, Keeper, Light Up the Sky, _and _Afraid._ One of them focuses on Gibbs's reaction; one on Tony and Ziva; and two on both Gibbs and Jenny and Tony and Ziva. I've also been wanting to do a song-fic on _When I Look to the Sky, _but I never really had a story line that fits, now that I've got one, I may just make that fic.

But like I said before, I don't plan on adding any more to this one unless I'm just overwhelmed with people wanting me to.

The song that this one focused on was _Jenny Was a Friend of Mine _by The Killers. I heard this song before the episode and I loved it and then after I saw Judgment Day it just seemed too perfect. I knew I had to turn it into a song-fic.

The line by Abby, "You have to put your behind in the past" is a reference to _The Lion King; _it's how Pumbaa misquotes the phrase 'put your past behind you'. Thusly, when she calls McGee Timmy-On, it;s a reference to Timon. I love _The Lion King_ it's my favorite movie and play, so I reference it as often as I can.

This was my first fic to feature Jethro! Jethro wants you to review! Don't make him beg.


End file.
